Random Thoughts About Stories...
Reading the same story over-and-over gets boring after a while. I guess that's why I'm not into really mainstream things like Doctor Who or Glee (ugh, I hate that show), Lady Gaga or Harry Potter. I guess that's why I like to read, see and hear other things like Baccano and The Looking Glass (Brandy, you're a fine girl indeed. ^^), Princess Tutu, Cat Laughing Last and it may play a role in why I'm still a member on this site.
I'm not saying the popular stories are boring... It's just... well, thinking about it there are several fans of the popular things. It's not uncommon to find a fan of Lord of the Rings or someone who worships Star Wars or Star Trek. It might sound hipster of me to say, but because those stories are so popular they have thousands of people who share common threads. In other words, people share something more in common and it becomes a "norm." It boggles my mind a bit to think so many people could have something like that in common sometimes. It's like they're one small step closer to being the same human, however small the trait they share turns out to be.
Consider life to be a story; a story is interesting with the events that take place and the philosophy tied in, respectively. In the mainstream world, hearing the same songs over and over again and seeing the same stories unfold gets a bit... dull, I suppose. Once not long ago I worked at an office where co-workers would play the radio every day for eight hours. Now, where I worked there were around six to seven people working together depending who had the shift that day. One of the employees, when she could have her way, would play a radio station that exclusively played songs including "Moves Like Jagger," "Firework" and other mundane garbage. Though, to be fair, they did also play Adel... once every few hours... Those were the only good songs on the station in my opinion. The radio station, only sporting around a total of ten or so songs, would repeat day after day after day. In other words; I was listening to the same music time and time again. Although I did enjoy a few songs, I would have preferred more variety.
Looking at popular culture as a whole, I suppose I view mainstream entertainment as I do that radio: I don't deny that the stories have potential and that I could easily enjoy them. I just prefer to have the many, many existing fans to have their fun in my stead. One less Doctor Who fan isn't going to kill anyone. Oddly enough, I have received some backlash for this way of thinking, however. I was in conversation with a group of my peers once, and I mentioned that I didn't like Lady Gaga. It was then I was attacked with the question "Well, what do you listen to then?!" to which I replied "video game music" as I had been listening to a lot of remixes at the time. The reply was "You're going to limit yourself to that?" The funny thing was, I thought they were limiting themselves to Lady Gaga. XD
There was also another incident where one of our older peers (a very kind woman and a great friend) mentioned to the younger generation that she had not read, and didn't intend, to read the Harry Potter series. Like a pack of wolves everyone in the room seemed to pounce for the kill, bombarding her with "OMG, Y U NO READ THE BOOKS?!" and "WHAT?!" the tone was along the lines of blasphemy for just not following the crowd. I chimed in and said that I too had no intention of finishing the series past book four (the last book I'd read as a kid). They seemed to grumble to themselves and quiet down. I was just thankful that they stopped with their prejudice (and over something as trivial as a book series no less XD).
So, I suppose that's why I'm not into Stargate or The Avengers and why I have little interest in Batman movies or other things of the sort. There's already quite a following for those titles, and I've heard of those stories before. What catches my eye, when I walk into the store, are strange things I've yet to see. I love being strange and learning new things. I suppose I've seen a Harry Potter fan before, and I have met Lady Gaga fans before. It isn't every day I meet someone else who likes Erik Satie or Dancing in the Moonlight or Princess Tutu or Rin. I love people that I think are interesting and I prefer it if everyone could expand their horizons a bit and let other things define them. Complexity is a wonderful thing, and I just wish people could see the full spectrum of light instead of the shades of gray in the world.
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